Zigadoo Moneyclips

This is a lively, upbeat collection of jam-pop tunes from Leigh and Zac Baker with help on bass from Jamie Davis and drummer Paul Taylor. Davis and Taylor are an acrobatic rhythm section. Horns and fiddles augment the sound in sparse, long melodies notably in the title track. The inevitable reference-making starts with the band's own shout-out to They Might Be Giants. White bands with festival funk underpinnings and trumpets will always live under the shadow of Cake. You can't completely clean the 311 off of the sound, but you can tell it works well in the last financial refuge of the American musician: the festival. Should we go ahead and call this festival music? Is festival is a genre? It is now. Zigadoo Moneyclips have a sound that is perfectly matched to a large-scale P.A. outside. Wicked drums and bass with horn punches that tense up and release into breezy choruses, particularly on "Esmerelda." Don't miss "Jig," in which the drummer does things you can't do. The Beale Street Music Festival organizers should get them into a good spot. - Memphis Flyer

On the evidence of this debut album, Zigadoo Moneyclips’ busy moniker and jam-band rep are both a bit misleading.

There is a lot going on here musically: alt-pop anchored by horns and rhythm-first guitar, with echoes of reggae/ska and (maybe it’s just me?) African music; a fiddle excursion that finds common ground between bluegrass and gypsy folk; slinky post-New Wave with clashing rap vocals. Some of it works (more than I expected); some of it doesn’t (my tolerance for corniness in rap far exceeds the average, but …). But it’s all purposely rooted in song form and connected by a uniform personality. And the band fully owns a horn-driven sound that sets them apart. (A theme this week?)

Led by husband-and- wife duo Zak and Leigh Baker, there’s a vocal give-and-take here for which I’m a sucker, and a related domesticity they bring home on the closing, approving “Toxic Love.” The tone tends to be sardonic, both his (“Telephile”: “Hold your telephone in the air/And wave it like you’re just not there”) and hers (“Molecular Romance”: “You took me home/Now we’re alone/I feel those pheromones creeping up through my nose”). And some of the narratives don’t scan (for me) on initial listens.

But the album’s high point comes when the wry songwriting gives way to a winning simplicity, on “Sweet”: “Relive that sweet, sweet moment when we first met/Relive that sweet, sweet moment/We were perfect.” - Commercial Appeal

From the cradle of the Delta Blues comes a sound as ground-breaking as the artists who have put Memphis on the rock ‘n’ roll map.

Zigadoo Moneyclips —- a breath of fresh hair from the banks of the Mississippi — is hitting Rockwood Music Hall, this Thursday for a three-night sound exposition, that brings new light from a classic cradle of groundbreaking music.

The brain child of Zak Baker and his wife Leigh, the spacey Zigadoos soundtrack meets somewhere on the wispy astral plane between Radiohead and Traffic.

Zak, a longtime local musician, and his wife appropriately met at a concert and have put their heads and souls together to create a new form of song-based music that is juiced with jazzy horns over a bluegrass fiddle with touch of rap sprinkled in to give it an extra kick.

Formed in 2012, the ‘Clips has already moved the whole of Memphis into its corner and was named one of the city’s “Top New Bands” two years later.

The group will be trotting out their unique, biting, and wit-laced catalogue of closely constructed and absolutely innovative tunes that they describe as “ska country Memphis” in three shows starting tomorrow night at Rockwood Music Hall, tomorrow — Sept. 16 — at The Emerson in Brooklyn and a grand finale at Pianos.

From Beale Street to Broadway, the ‘Clips are making a joyful new noise you won’t want to miss! - Downtown Magazine NYC

Local band Zigadoo Moneyclips (also known as Z$) has been making musical waves in Memphis for more than a year. The group's debut album Her|Story was released in 2014, and the band has been performing songs from the album at events and venues across the city (and at a few out-of-town gigs) since. You may have seen them around. You may have had a hard time staying in your seat if you did. The band's unique blend of funk, punk, reggae, and pop, with burgeoning horns, foot-tapping bass and drums, undulating strings, and earworm melodies makes it impossible to sit still. Zigawhat? Let's dance!

Z$ lead singer and guitarist Zak Baker describes the band's music as "ShinySexyFunkPunkReggaePop." Other members include Leigh Baker (trumpet, vocals), Josh Aguilar (saxophone, vocals), Jamie Davis (bass, looks), Paul Taylor (drums, smiles), Nigel Albertson (guitar, vocals), and Adam Brooks (fiddle, energy).

"We sing love songs, protest songs, and songs about selfies and the human condition," says Zak. "It's kind of like hard-rock meditation music for the trans-generational, trans-dimensional every-man.. with a little bit of ska and hip-hop mixed in for fun."

The band will premiere a music video for the Her|Story track "Telephile" this weekend at a performance at Young Avenue Deli. The video was shot in full right here in Memphis. Zak says, "'Telephile' is the zigaclinical term for someone with a psychological addiction to their telephone so severe that their soul is transferred onto the cloud where they can only be accessed with reliable wifi."

From the song's lyrics: "I had an awesome thought, and all my friends, they liked it. I shared a photograph that made my mother mad. I told the world about the things I ate for breakfast, watched a video of a funny little cat... I know there is a better way, let me look it up on my phone. It says here, maybe we've lost this day, but at least we're not alone... Hold your telephone in the air and wave it like you're just not there."

Video viewers may recognize some of the Memphis locales. (Some of you may have even seen Z$ members out on the streets when they were filming.) There's a scene at High Point Pizza, some shots from the pedestrian bridge over Sam Cooper, and additional filming was done in the basement of the Hotel Pontotoc (a decommissioned, if not haunted, former hotel and brothel downtown, which Memphis magazine featured in our July 2015 issue).

The official video for "Telephile" will premiere on the big screen at Young Avenue Deli at 10 p.m. on Saturday, February 13th, followed by full live sets from both Zigadoo Moneyclips and The Incredible Hook. "Folks will recognize songs from the debut album that we've been playing around for the past year or so, but we have some fresh new tunes we'll be working in to the set as well," Zak says.

As for teaming up with The Incredible Hook for the event: "We wanted this to be a party to celebrate how excited we are to release our first video, and when I think 'party,' my mind immediately drifts to The Incredible Hook, so the co-bill was a no-brainer."

In addition to this weekend's show, you can also catch Zigadoo Moneyclips at Murphy's on Thursday, February 18th, performing with Laramie (Memphis), The Grasping Straws (NYC), and Emily Einhorn (Chicago); at the Hi-Tone on Saturday, February 20th, as part of the "Bands for Bernie" event; and on Saturday, March 5th, at the MISOMI (Musicians In Support Of the Mentally Ill) benefit. Zak adds, "Human beings should check www.zigadoomoneyclips.com for gig info, including more dates in Nashville and Knoxville."

The band's debut album Her|Story is available on bandcamp for Pay-What-You-Can. You can also check them out on Spotify, Rhapsody, iTunes, Apple Music, and YouTube. But, Zak says, "The very best way to hear us is to come see us live, because then you get to see our sexy butts, and we get to see your sexy faces (and vice versa, I'm sure)."

If you can't wait 'til Saturday to hear "Telephile," the audio-only version can be heard here:

Zigadoo Moneyclips "Telephile" premiere with full live sets from Z$ and The Incredible Hook at Young Avenue Deli, Saturday, February 13th, 10 p.m. Admission is $5 and the show is 21+. - Memphis Magazine